This film has a big problem with having too many huge conflicts in one film.
Conflict #1 - Character has a horrible family and life in general Alice here has two uncontrollable hellions who, when they aren't screaming about how much they hate her, they're almost getting themselves killed. Her husband is unaware of his surroundings to the point of apparent brain damage. Dude, there is a pot boiling over inches from your head, don't you smile at her all innocently like nothing's amiss, what is wrong with you?
Alice is the only responsible person in the house and drags everyone's weight, whether it be her children's abuse or her husband's uselessness, like a beast of burden. To top it off she has a terrible job as a school nurse that she hates as well.
All of this is pointing to a nervous breakdown on her part, perhaps a coming-around of her husband and children. This conflict alone would make a solid narrative with a satisfying, if frustrating, structure. Does this happen? No, because...
Conflict #2 - Child in Alice's care drowns herself
Wow. Um, that came out of nowhere. I see that the reason the kid dies was because A. nasty bitch daughter demanded that Alice leave them alone to find a different bathing suit and Alice like a doormat does as she's told, and B. useless dad was too busy screwing around with the car to see the tiny child wander past him.
That is a heap of unnecessary stress on an already stressful story. While this conflict alone would be good as it's own movie - exploring guilt and grief and a broken friendship between two moms - it's pretty spoiled by an already gasping-for-breath stressful setting.
Okay, maybe this can be salvaged.
Conflict #3 - Alice is wrongly accused of molesting one of the students
What. The. Fudge.
Wait, this has nothing to do with the previous two plot lines? Why is this here? ANY of these three conflicts would be enough to cause a nervous breakdown in a normal person and deserve to be explored individually. Lumping them on top of each other like a precarious ice cream cone does none of these serious issues justice.
Alice isn't strong - she's the butt of a sick cosmic joke. She's the universe's doormat and she doesn't have the guts to demand better.
Three stars for Julianne Moore.
Conflict #1 - Character has a horrible family and life in general Alice here has two uncontrollable hellions who, when they aren't screaming about how much they hate her, they're almost getting themselves killed. Her husband is unaware of his surroundings to the point of apparent brain damage. Dude, there is a pot boiling over inches from your head, don't you smile at her all innocently like nothing's amiss, what is wrong with you?
Alice is the only responsible person in the house and drags everyone's weight, whether it be her children's abuse or her husband's uselessness, like a beast of burden. To top it off she has a terrible job as a school nurse that she hates as well.
All of this is pointing to a nervous breakdown on her part, perhaps a coming-around of her husband and children. This conflict alone would make a solid narrative with a satisfying, if frustrating, structure. Does this happen? No, because...
Conflict #2 - Child in Alice's care drowns herself
Wow. Um, that came out of nowhere. I see that the reason the kid dies was because A. nasty bitch daughter demanded that Alice leave them alone to find a different bathing suit and Alice like a doormat does as she's told, and B. useless dad was too busy screwing around with the car to see the tiny child wander past him.
That is a heap of unnecessary stress on an already stressful story. While this conflict alone would be good as it's own movie - exploring guilt and grief and a broken friendship between two moms - it's pretty spoiled by an already gasping-for-breath stressful setting.
Okay, maybe this can be salvaged.
Conflict #3 - Alice is wrongly accused of molesting one of the students
What. The. Fudge.
Wait, this has nothing to do with the previous two plot lines? Why is this here? ANY of these three conflicts would be enough to cause a nervous breakdown in a normal person and deserve to be explored individually. Lumping them on top of each other like a precarious ice cream cone does none of these serious issues justice.
Alice isn't strong - she's the butt of a sick cosmic joke. She's the universe's doormat and she doesn't have the guts to demand better.
Three stars for Julianne Moore.